Banana Avocado and Honey Popsicles!

It's the dead of summer, 95 degrees, sticky and just plain hot! Irritable and cranky kids in need of something to cool off. Most commercial popsicles and ice cream are loaded with sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Not to mention all those artificial dyes and flavorings. So, we decided to make our own organic, creamy and delectable treats to cool ourselves off in the summer sun.

Organic Banana Avocado and Honey Popsicles:

2 Small Organic Bananas, roughly chopped
1 Organic Hass Avocado, pitted and flesh scooped out
1 tbsp Organic Honey
1/4 cup Organic Whole Milk (Substitute, soy, rice or coconut milk depending on allergies and food tolerance)
1 tsp lemon juice

Special Equipment: Blender or food processor; popsicle molds

Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor until completely smooth. Add more milk if you feel mixture is too thick, you want it to be creamy like a smoothie or thin milkshake. Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze for 4 hours or until completely frozen. :)

This recipe made three good size popsicles for me, but will vary depending on the size of your molds.

If you don't have popsicle molds consider using cleaned out yogurt containers or small paper cups along with popsicle or lollipop sticks to create your own recycled popsicle mold.

Healthy Wheat Animal Crackers

One afternoon, my mom brought home animal crackers for lil miss E. After E ate many of the crackers I took a look at the ingredient list. The first ingredients were white refined flour and high fructose corn syrup. I thought there has to be a healthier alternative to these beloved treats.
I decided to do some research and found a recipe for all natural wheat animal crackers. I tried the recipe, doing some of my own tweaks and first try they were a hit! I think Daddy may have eaten more than E they were so delicious. Instead of being completely made with white flour these are made with a combination of both white and wheat. There's also very little raw sugar and the addition of flax seeds for omega 3's which are great for eye and heart health.
I hope you enjoy them as much as my family did!

Healthy Wheat Animal Crackers


1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup ground flax seed (you can usually find this in the natural/organic section at the grocery store)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 stick of butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup of raw sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

You will need some itty bitty cookie cutters for these. You can find them at the craft store :)

Combine the first six ingredients in a large bowl, whisk to combine and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together with a stand or hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Lower the speed and add in the egg until combined. Add in the vanilla extract. About a 1/3 at a time add the dry mixture, waiting until it's combined before adding the next batch. Let mix until flour is just incorporated. Lightly flour a work surface and turn dough out. Roll into a ball and flatten into a 1 inch disk. Wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Work the dough a little with your hands to slightly warm it up. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin to 1/8" thickness. Cut shapes out of dough with cookie cutters and place on cookie sheet. Once one cookie sheet if full place it in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking. This keeps the cookie from spreading in the oven. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Bake the cookies for 7-10 minutes until the edges are just slightly browned. Let cool completely before storing for about a week in a sealed container. Though, I doubt they will last that long! :)

If you find you don't want to bake that many cookies at once you can cut the dough in half and freeze the rest for a later time. Just thaw it overnight in the fridge before rolling it out.